The invention relates to an arrangement for preselecting and shifting a motor vehicle gear shift transmission having a gear shift lever which is provided at its upper end with a grip and is guided in the area of its lower end by a joint square which comprises at least two rocker devices pivoted at the vehicle frame and a coupling device by means of which the rocker devices are pivotally connected, a shift rod being pivotally connected to the lower end of the gear shift lever which engages in the gear shift transmission.
A similar gear shift arrangement is described in DE-OS 27 43 875. The gear shift lever is guided at a joint square which is composed of two rocker devices disposed in parallel with respect to one another and a gear shift lever housing which forms the coupling device. In the gear shift lever housing, the gear shift lever is pivoted by means of a ball joint. By means of a special arrangement of the joint axes and the adaptation of the distances between the axes, it is to be achieved that the swinging motions of the transmission are not transmitted to corresponding movements at the gear shift lever. In particular, no forward-directed, backward-directed or vertically directed movement must occur of the gear shift lever knob to be operated by the driver in order not to irritate the driver and to keep the knob steady.
It is an object of the invention to develop a shifting arrangement of this type in such a manner that it requires little installation space and can be constructed with few components.
This object is achieved by providing an arrangement wherein a cross piece of the gear shift lever forms the coupling device of the joint square, and wherein the rocker devices are pivotally connected at both sides of the cross piece. If a crosspiece of the gear shift lever represents the coupling device of the joint square or is rigidly connected with this coupling device, according to preferred embodiments of the invention, an approximately straight guiding can be achieved of the gear shift lever grip and of the shift rod mounted on the gear shift lever by means of the corresponding dimensioning of the lengths and the distances of the pivotal connecting points of the rocker devices. According to a preferred embodiment of the invention, a pivot pin fastened in eyes located on both sides and projecting out of them is sued as the crosspiece of the gear shift lever. At this pivot pin, joint pieces are disposed on the left and on the right to which the rocker devices are pivotally connected. When the gear shift lever is pivoted around the pivot pin, the shift rod is rotated around its longitudinal axis for the preselecting of the transmission gears.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.